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Wheat Protein-fed Mice Show Higher Incidence of Diabetes and Intestinal Damage Than Those on Gluten-Free Diet

Scott Adams

In 1994 I was diagnosed with celiac disease, which led me to create Celiac.com in 1995. I created this site for a single purpose: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed so they can begin to live happy, healthy gluten-free lives. Celiac.com was the first site on the Internet dedicated solely to celiac disease. In 1998 I foundedÂ The Gluten-Free Mall, Your Special Diet Superstore!, and I am the co-author of the book Cereal Killers, and founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity.

Celiac.com 04/29/2005 – According to Italian researchers
an improper immune response to wheat may play an important role in the
pathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes. The researchers fed one group of female
non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice a standard gluten-free diet, while another
group of NOD mice was fed a standard gluten-free diet that also included
wheat proteins. The researchers then evaluated the small intestinal architecture
of the mice and found that the wheat-protein group "showed reduced
villous height, increased intraepithelial infiltration by CD3(+) cells
and enhanced expression of H2-IA and IFN-gamma mRNA when compared with
mice on the gluten-free diet." After 43 weeks the cumulative incidence
of diabetes was 65% in the gluten-free group, and 97% in the wheat-protein
group. The researchers conclude that the mice that ate wheat proteins
had a much higher incidence of diabetes and small intestinalenteropathy
that included higher mucosal levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.